So, some of us, those who asked, should have received the packet of records and reports from Lanier by now.
The financial ‘records’ are laughable. I couldn’t run my household on records consisting of the annual budget and actual monthly expense as a table titled “Monthly and Annual Budget 2020’. The other financial records consist of a running total of expenses and income under broad categories titled ‘Income and Expense Comparative Statements’, and a one page report titled ‘Balance Sheet’. And guess what, these are exactly what we used to get as handouts at our General Meetings.
Under State laws, the HOA non-profit corporation are directed to keep proper financial records. What we were sent contained no bid statements, no line item expenses or income or assets; they are, as financial records go, almost worth the paper they are printed on.
And then there are the Board Meeting Minutes, which I find a little suspect due to the fact that I had statements, in writing, that the particular Board member didn’t know how Ashley got on the Board, and that they hadn’t had an in person meeting since February, and the many discrepancies within the Minutes themselves. The day after that statement, according to the Minutes Lanier forwarded, suddenly the Board had a meeting at the clubhouse. (Yes, the very same clubhouse that has been closed since March. Closed for the HOA members anyway, but according to the Board Meeting Minutes, open for the Board. Hmm.)
Given that I asked for these records in April, and that I have repeatedly asked for them, I might be forgiven for doubting the veracity of these Minutes. The discrepancies seem to cover many of the points that have been brought up about votes taken and not taken, in other words, to cover themselves in areas that I have been publicly vocal about.
But, real or not, they reveal a lot about the Board, in that they have proceeded with absolutely no regard to state and federal laws, and the HOA Covenants, Design Standards and ByLaws.
Jan 28th show that there was to be, by Board vote, no vice president in 2020. This is not one of the three necessary officers, so that is OK; but, why was Trevor suddenly styling himself Vice President, when we clearly see the Board voted for NO VP? Then there was apparently a vote to put Ashley on the Board, despite my being told by a Board member who was in attendance, that there was no such vote. The vote for Treasurer was tabled until Erica could attend the Board Meeting; Jeff nominated Sabrina. The Board is required to have a Treasurer, this is not an optional position.
(Recently, Sabrina has been listed as Treasurer. However, there was no recorded Board vote at a Board Meeting, nor a vote not at a meeting, so how did this come about?)
Further down, they voted to remove me from the ARB, and to proceed without a mandated Standing Committee consisting of 3-5 persons. Further, all ARB requests are mandated to be sent to the ARB Chairperson, but the Board voted to send them to Jeff and Megan. Fine, you might say, but a huge amount of the Covenants and Design Standards are devoted to the ARB/ACC: how it is composed, how it meets, how it votes, how it conducts business and what its duties are to be. The Board decided to ignore the directions in all three governing documents.
What is missing from these Minutes is the vote that was taken to refund all the late fees for 2020. Trevor announced this little item on the HOA FB page. Since changing the schedule of dues, except only for a 10% increase in annual dues, can only be accomplished by changing the Covenants, which has to be done by a vote from the HOA membership, this didn’t happen. (I understand Lanier refused to go along with this.)
The Jan 28th meeting did have Megan’s name on the end as Secretary, and the date of approval (which cannot be the date the Meeting was held but has to be the date of the Board Meeting at which the previous meetings Minutes were approved.) The Feb 16thmeeting had the Secretary and Date of Approval left blank;; the problematic Meeting Minutes from May 17th and June 28th have had these entries entirely removed.
The Feb 16th Board Meeting Minutes has a list of Reports that are marked as ‘Please see attached documents’ – only there are no attached documents. This meeting ran from 7:23pm to 8:44 pm – an hour and a quarter. Given the number of topics listed, it is obvious that the discussions were minimal at best.
Under Old Business, they list scheduling an orientation meeting with Colby. Colby had wanted this meeting within a week of the elections. The Jan 28th Minutes say the Board wanted to push it back to after two weeks. And yet well over two weeks later the Board directs Megan to schedule a meeting.
Item 3 under Old Business, although this should be New Business unless the Jan 16th Minutes were altered to remove the refund of late fees and suggested scheduling of a new payment due date and amounts, the Board now vote to change the payment schedule for 2021. They also vote to increase the late fee by $55, something else that needs a vote from the membership! The fact that this is listed under Old Business is a huge clue that there has been some falsification of the Minutes.
The motion to cancel the HOA contract with Comcast comes a few years too late. I don’t think anyone has watched the TV in the clubhouse, which is rarely open to HOA members anyway, since Paul Fox left.
Item 5 might raise questions with state and federal law. If Jeff and Trevor are making individual agreements with individual homeowners, giving every homeowner their own deal, this violates laws. The only plus is that this is the VERY first time such deal making has ever been mentioned at a Board meeting. For questioning Trevor’s authority to finalize these deals, and his silence to the Board as to who he was talking to, what the amounts might be, what deals were on offer, as the Board had granted no such powers, only the authority to negotiate and report back were what led Trevor to engage in very unprofessional behavior and language in official Board communications last year.
Item 6: The mulch. I don’t think the Board asked for volunteers from the community to perform the labor involved in mulching the planting areas. I do know that, while they might have asked for quotes somewhere, the ‘Board will follow up on this at the next board meeting’ is NOT followed up in the next meeting’s Minutes, but the work got done. Badly. And in a very ill-timed fashion as the Amberly entrance is still a construction zone. The contractor simply dumped a thin layer of mulch over piles of dirt, weeds and rubbish, at the same time managing to miss parts of the mulched areas that didn’t have piles of dirt or trash.
Item 7: The Board were looking at adding a playground in Braxton Manor. That is nice, but the only space a playground could be erected is the common property at the front of Braxton Manor (to the left as you enter), where the Declarant added a green fence across the Common Property. There is Common Property on the other side, but there is an HOA structure there limiting the space. The only other Common Property is at the corner of Braxton Manor Drive, between two houses then running back to the pond, and from there back between 94 and 96 Roseberry, where there is a green fence across the Common Property. Unfortunately, this is a drainage area, so cannot be built upon except for the space between two houses. About 2/5ths of Braxton Manor is not in the HOA, and it is the same with the houses south of Red Robin in Amberly Estates. Putting a playground in either pieces of Common Property would position the amenity to be most convenient for those residents of the non-HOA houses who are not permitted to use HOA facilities (and try telling that to little kids). Why the Board chose to dwell on the lack of parking to invalidate a playground in Braxton – baffles me. We (by that I mean I, and I reported to the Board) did all the research last year.
Item 8: Six months after I obtained a good quote for Lake and Pond maintenance; six months after I sent the quote to Board members for the first of three times (plus providing printed copies), and the Board reach out to Lanier to obtain a copy of the quote. Interestingly enough, although we are now updated with plans for fish to be added to the Lake, there were no mentions of any discussion about, or awarding of, contracts to any entity in the only other 2 Board Meetings for the year (as per the supplied reports and records packet).
New Business: Item 5, painting the pool area – a good idea, but there were no votes for a bid, and no quotes mentioned in further Meeting Minutes. Item 7, surprise, the AT&T internet doesn’t work and wasn’t working last year either. Item 10 mentions attached documents which are not attached, it also states that the HOA has rightful property ownership of all properties – but they don’t, and the Board has permitted HOA members to enclose certain Common Property areas. A list of ‘all properties’ might have been useful.
And lastly, the next Board Meeting – scheduled for March 29th. There are no Meeting Minutes for this meeting at all.
The May 17th Board Meeting Minutes are very short, in comparison the Feb 16th ones. This Meeting supposedly took place in the Clubhouse, which was closed for use at this time. This meeting started at 7:31pm and finished at 8:10pm – so less than 40 minutes. Adequate time for a Board Meeting given the number of topics listed? I don’t think so.
There is mention of a Clubhouse Cleaning Proposal, but this should be attached to the Meeting Minutes, or to the next Meeting’s Minutes.
Under Old Business, Item 5, the Board apparently requested quotes from the community to pressure wash the front of the clubhouse and do repairs. If by community they mean the very limited community of the Lake Shore HOA FB Group, I suppose they did, but this is a very small subset of the community. To ask the community, an email blast or mailing would be appropriate. Mention is made of quotes received, but they are not attached to either this or the last Board Meeting Minutes. There is no record of a Board vote on choosing a vendor either.
Item 6 mentions quotes for a playground project. While dollar amounts were quoted in one case, no copy of specifications for the tenders, or copies of the bids were attached. These are required to be part of the Board Meeting Minutes as documents used in their deliberations.
Under New Business, Item 5, Trevor finally shares some status on payment plans – but no details seem to be included such as how many homeowners are in negotiations.
June 28th Board Meeting Minutes. The meeting started at 7:30 pm and adjourned at 9:13 pm – about an hour and three quarters. This was once again at the clubhouse, closed to HOA members.
Reports listed that should be attached – May 2020 Financials, which are not attached.
Old Business: Clubhouse Playground Project, so at some time, and without a vote at a meeting, or the required vote not at a meeting (a document signed by all Board members is required, and has to be attached to the relevant Board Meeting Minutes – there is no such record of a Board vote), the Board hired a company to do work on the cheap wooden playground at the Clubhouse, plus install fences and a keycard access. The amount isn’t specified, but the Board paid an unrecorded anywhere 50% of the unspecified amount.
New Business:
ARB: Jeff, in his wisdom, decided to override the Covenants and Design Standards and ByLaws. These documents state that the ARB is a Standing Committee consisting of 3-5 members. Jeff proposed that all 7 members of the Board be the ARB. The HOA governing documents state that ARB requests go to the Chairperson, but Jeff decided that Megan and he will receive the requests. Jeff has decided that all Board Members will be able to sign off on ARB requests and wants 3 signatures on each permit.
What Jeff has done is abolish the ARB and its functions as specifically mandated in all details in the HOA governing documents. No ARB = No ARB permits. To change the Covenants and ByLaws votes are required from the HOA members, not just the Board. To change the Design Standards, you need an ARB as votes are required by the ARB and the Board.
Which brings us to the next item: Fencing: Trevor rather erroneously stated, in direct opposition to the Covenants and Design Standards that state that an ARB Permit, or a variance do NOT set a precedent, stated that the aluminum and vinyl fences at the pool set a precedent for all homeowners to have these kind of fences.
Erica proposed updating the Design Standards (which is a good thing, as well as something mandated in the Covenants as something to be done regularly by the ARB, then voted on by the Board).
Jeff then made a totally false statement that ‘aluminum fencing in lake facing lots is written in the covenants’; it isn’t, but then, you have to read the Covenants to know this.
Trevor then stated that any homeowner can apply for a variance for alternate fencing types. This is true, and false. Any homeowner can apply for a variance, but they have to make a statement as to why their special circumstances warrant a variance, and it still has to follow the Covenants that specifically deny any material, but pressure treated, unpainted, wooden fences in the shadowbox design.
Someone then pointed out that approval of variances falls onto the ARB Committee – but only if they follow the Covenants and Design Standards, and only if there is an ARB.
A timeline of the fencing issue:
On June 11th, Trevor went on a rather racist rant about how his new aluminum fence, build some time previously, was perfectly allowable.
Early July, Trevor suddenly ‘discovered’ new Design Standards. There being no ARB as such, and no record of the nonexistent ARB voting, and then the Board voting, then by the Covenants, this is not the new Design Standards (which conveniently include the aluminum fencing only on lake lots and white vinyl fencing). Without these votes, there can be no new Design Standards. Claiming to ‘find’ something marked 2016, but never distributed to the community is not the required procedure for introducing new Design standards. The version distributed since 2015 is the ONLY version that meets the requirements of being voted on by the ARB, the Board AND being widely distributed. And, ‘finding’ new Design Standards doesn’t make an aluminum fence built prior to June 11 any less of a violation.
So, Trevor built his fence before June 11, got called on it June 11 and onward, attended this Board Meeting June 28th, and ‘discovered’ new Design Standards early July. These Design Standards were not made available until after July 15th. Of interest is the complete lack of a Board vote to issue a Variance to permit Trevor to build his metal fence. In 2019, Jeff insisted on a full Board vote on ANY permit or variance that was not completely within the Design Standards.
I requested, as permitted, the Architectural review Board Meeting Minutes and supporting documents for the period from Jan 1 to whenever I was permitted to read and copy the HOA records and reports. These were not sent to me. Since there hasn’t actually been an ARB since January 28th, I guess that makes sense.
All very aboveboard, I am sure.
Accounts Receivable: There are a few details here about negotiations to pay back dues, fess etc. Once again, it is obvious that homeowners are not being treated equally. As mentioned before, this might be in violation of various state and federal laws. For instance, it is now suggested that if you have ever filed for bankruptcy in the past, you cannot negotiate a payment plan. If a lender found a past bankruptcy didn’t deny a homeowner a mortgage, why is the Board allowed to use this against homeowners. This is discriminatory at best.
Financial Review: Despite there being no record of anyone being voted as Treasurer (and recent lists show Sabrina in this position), it is obvious that Erica is performing the work involved in this position. It is also obvious that there is no financial oversight by the Board, not if Lanier can spend $1100 for consumer grade grills.
And, folks, that appears to be all the official business.
Also included in the packet were what can only be described as precis of the Annual Meeting in December, the reconvened Annual Meeting in January, and the one General Meeting held in 2020 (because the Board haven’t heard of GoToMeeting or Zoom,? - despite having a self-professed IT expert on the Board, and despite having internet in the Clubhouse, which seems open for Board members, just closed for HOA members).
There is interesting reading in the Jan 28th Reconvened Annual Meeting Minutes – interesting in its absence. There are the overviews of statements from those running for the Board. There is Sabrina Purvis’ statement – with no mention of the fact that her father, James Weldon, working as James Home Improvement and living at Sabrina’s address, was making money from the HOA Board in 2019, thus enriching the income of the residence that gave Sabrina standing to run for the Board. And there is, similarly, no mention in Ashley Gamble’s statement that her husband, working as D & Sons Mobile Detailing also made money working for the HOA Board in 2019, thus enriching the income of the residence that gave Ashley standing to run for the Board.
These are very pertinent facts. They should have been revealed, and a statement made about future employment of these businesses to the enrichment of the nominees should they be voted onto the Board. None was given, and had we been afforded the financial records that were requested, we would have seen how much this enrichment has been in 2020, a clear case of conflict of interest, even were the relevant Board members to recuse themselves from a vote on hiring their father/husband. Since the Board Meeting Minutes do not record any votes by the Board on awarding contracts, or any glimpse of the scope of work in the contracts, or any sight of the bids tendered – it is left to our imaginations as to the actual amounts, and the extent of the conflicts of interest.
